Pro Brewers Speculate On Where "Beer" Goes Next
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Well, that list sure narrowed down the possibilities. 
worlddivides
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And all the "next big beer styles" are "current big beer styles" or at least "previously big beer styles." Are they just saying "I think this currently popular style is going to become the most popular style?" or "This most popular style is going to become EVEN MORE popular?" or "This style that was the most popular craft beer style ten years ago and that is still popular now is going to be the next big beer style again?" I'm not sure I really get the whole thing. It's titled and framed like some kind of amazing new big thing, but it's just "German lagers" and "West Coast IPAs."
Now if you ask me, peanut butter bacon banana milkshake sour IPAs are gonna be the next big style.
Now if you ask me, peanut butter bacon banana milkshake sour IPAs are gonna be the next big style.
FTA:
If their readings of the tea leaves are accurate, I'd be pleased to see many of those becoming more prominent, as opposed to some of the jump-the-shark beers I've seen lately.
So no peanut butter bacon banana milkshake sour IPAs, if you please.
- German lagers
- West Coast pilsner
- Saison
- Italian pilsner
- West Coast IPA
- Beers made with historic techniques
- Hefeweizens
- English ales
- Malt-forward lagers
- Low-ABV beers
- Ultra-light lagers
If their readings of the tea leaves are accurate, I'd be pleased to see many of those becoming more prominent, as opposed to some of the jump-the-shark beers I've seen lately.
So no peanut butter bacon banana milkshake sour IPAs, if you please.
I think the low ABV category has a real chance, but only if you can price them at $1-2 less per pint to maintain the ABV/Dollar ratio. Which is a total pipe dream, since most of that cost is overhead rather than ingredients.
worlddivides
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Personally, the low ABV category is the category I want to become a big hit since I've long been a fan of really low ABV beers like Berliner Weisses, English milds, and the recent low ABV beers I see from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and sometimes South Korea (most commonly sub-4% session IPAs and 2.5% to 3.3% fruit lagers such as mango, lychee, and pineapple). I'd love to see more of that come out. Some of them are priced on the lower end, but a lot of it is priced right about the same. With the hoppy stuff, it does use less grain, but it tastes like it uses just as much hops.
But anything with bacon is awesome.
Nothing wrong with a loss leader. I see plenty of breweries and taprooms were the 9 and 10% cost a dollar or so more than the 5-8%. Bring in a 3 or 4% at a dollar less. Probably not going to work for wholesale though as the margins are razor thin.
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For the immediate future, I hope it's not pumpkin spiced beer!
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I have a dim view of the mainstream... I'd look to sudden media exposure of whatever wierd-ass concoction some popular celebrity is photgraphed drinking at the Met or some such, which will be followed by its adoption by their fans and then some BMC starts churning out... perhaps even a loosening of alcohol laws to allow "McBeer" or Taco Bell "Taco Beer Grande" or some other marketing foolishness.
Whatever it is it'll be the cheapest low-grade crap that can be mass-produced and marketed to the average idiot mainstream.
...sorry, I'll likely be like this until Nov. 6 and maybe even worse after.
Whatever it is it'll be the cheapest low-grade crap that can be mass-produced and marketed to the average idiot mainstream.
...sorry, I'll likely be like this until Nov. 6 and maybe even worse after.
I have a dim view of the mainstream... I'd look to sudden media exposure of whatever wierd-ass concoction some popular celebrity is photgraphed drinking at the Met or some such, which will be followed by its adoption by their fans and then some BMC starts churning out... perhaps even a loosening of alcohol laws to allow "McBeer" or Taco Bell "Taco Beer Grande" or some other marketing foolishness.
Whatever it is it'll be the cheapest low-grade crap that can be mass-produced and marketed to the average idiot mainstream.
...sorry, I'll likely be like this until Nov. 6 and maybe even worse after.
Can you make mine a supreme, please?
Don't go there...don't even say it. We mustn't awaken The Evil Gourd.
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Pretty much a list of non hazies so all the hazy haters will be happy about that. Except hefe's which I don't see making a huge increase, some maybe but nah. saison (slight haze) more likely then hefe. But then again you could easily make a peanut butter banana bacon hefeweizen.
Avocado toast Mexican lager.
I found out that I don't hate pumpkin beer like I thought I did, I hate pumpkin spice beer.
I can dream that Saisons will start showing up more on tap lists in the US...and not "7.5%, Mosaic double dry hopped" type Saisons. When I do find a Saison on tap, it is usually either funky, or infused with spices and herbs...or both.
I do think that "West Coast Pilsner" is a style that will see more growth. Call it what you want, but I am talking about a light grain bill, a clean yeast, 5.5% or lower ABV, and modern hop flavors. So many IPAs fall in the 7% ABV and above. I like the idea of a Cold IPA, but I really don't want a "crushable" beer at that high octane. My favorite homebrew batch was 100% Pilsner malt, featured Centennial and Simcoe (at a hoppy Pale Ale rate), fermented with W-34/70 at 62F.
I am not sure how I feel about the latest iteration of West Coast IPA. I like that were have pulled back on Crystal malts and raw IBUs, but I still like an IPA with some body and I also have a fondness for classic American hops. A 100% Pilsner malt IPA with a massive dry hop of Citra and Nelson seems a little out of balance to me.
I do think that "West Coast Pilsner" is a style that will see more growth. Call it what you want, but I am talking about a light grain bill, a clean yeast, 5.5% or lower ABV, and modern hop flavors. So many IPAs fall in the 7% ABV and above. I like the idea of a Cold IPA, but I really don't want a "crushable" beer at that high octane. My favorite homebrew batch was 100% Pilsner malt, featured Centennial and Simcoe (at a hoppy Pale Ale rate), fermented with W-34/70 at 62F.
I am not sure how I feel about the latest iteration of West Coast IPA. I like that were have pulled back on Crystal malts and raw IBUs, but I still like an IPA with some body and I also have a fondness for classic American hops. A 100% Pilsner malt IPA with a massive dry hop of Citra and Nelson seems a little out of balance to me.
worlddivides
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As much as I love all styles of saison, I really want more "funky" saisons. My favorite saisons tend to be slightly sour, and the ones I can remember liking the most have a touch of Brett's funkiness in them. But those are the kinds of saisons I see the least. It's usually a more typical traditional saison, a la Saison Dupont, or a more modern American variation with non-traditional hops or non-traditional spicing. They taste good too, but I want more funky and sour saisons available.
I am under no illusion that they will become popular, though.
Next time you are in Seattle, find some Propolis or Fair Isle.
bobtheUKbrewer2
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In the UK low alcohol beer is very popular. In particular Guinness 0.0 in cans here but on draught in Ireland. This week a popular pub in London started selling it on draught. In a blind tasting two experts failed to detect 0.0
worlddivides
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Isn't that non-alcoholic and not low-alcohol? The two are very different. Non-alcohol is under 1%, usually 0% or effectively 0% (though there are non-alcoholic beers that are around 0.9% ABV), whereas low-alcohol is between 1% and 5%, usually around the 3% ABV mark. 0% isn't low. It's zero.
We've certainly come a long way since the days when O'Doul's was the only game in town.
I feel like that is one of the things holding Saison back...you just never know what you will get. I generally try to get a taste of a Saison on tap before I order a full glass.
I LOVE a crisp drinkable "clean" Saison with some pepper and spicy/herbal hops. It does not have to be a Dupont clone, but that is my favorite type. I sometimes like a bit of Brett character. My girlfriend loves a Saison, but hates any signs of Brett. I feel like mixed cultured sours strip away all the Saison character and I am not a huge mixed culture sour fan. Then brewers seem to think they need to throw in stuff like Basil and Rosemary and barrel age them.
bobtheUKbrewer2
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World - in UK all "low" is labelled as 0.5 - next lowest I have seen is 2.7
Similarly "gluten free" is not gluten free - Guinness only zero percent here at present......
Similarly "gluten free" is not gluten free - Guinness only zero percent here at present......
A new Brulosophy Show came out on YouTube today with tasters comparing Heineken, Stella and Guinness regular vs N/A. Spoiler: they were around 50/50 at picking out which was which, and often drinkers preferred the N/A version.
worlddivides
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That just comes down to taste, though. If I had to pick a favorite over-arching style of beer, it'd probably be "sours" (lambics, gueuzes, Flemish red ales, oud bruin, Berliner Weisses, goses, modern experimental sours, sour stouts, sour IPAs, hopped sours, wild ales, and on and on), so it's not really surprising that my taste would prefer the funky or sour saisons to the more traditional clean styles (though I, again, love those as well). It's just that I always buy saisons whenever I see a new one, and they very very rarely ever have any funk or sourness in them, unfortunately. There is a go-to saison that's more in the line of Dupont that I regularly buy, but part of it is just that I don't see the sour saisons available that often. Sure, maybe I should just make them myself, but going down the sour route means I need to separate all my equipment between "regular fermentation" and "sour/wild fermentation." Kettle souring and Philly sour can get lactic acid, but it can't really get the funk of Brett or the acetic acid of pediococcus or the just overall interesting character those bacteria and wild yeasts produce.
Saison is one of my favorite styles, but I do tend to really prefer to have a bit of that wildness in there, so mixed cultures are where it's at for me. Arguably the best beer I ever made was a mixed culture, but it took over a year to get to that point, so that's another reason I'm not exactly keen to get back into sour fermentations. If I lived out in the countryside in a big house that I was sure I'd live in for decades, then yeah, I'd probably be doing it again, but I've come to just thinking I want to buy commercial sours (outside of the easier kettle sour/Philly sour stuff I can do pretty quickly on my own without any real risk of contamination).
That said, I do agree with you that I think "you never know what you will get" does kind of hold saison back. As much as I love them all, if I'm hoping for a funky saison and that's not what it is, I'm slightly disappointed. If I'm hoping for a traditional saison and I get a funky one, it's nice, but it's still different from what I was hoping for at that moment.
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